Socks From Dragon

Looking at the brightly colored yarn that was my birthday present from my boyfriend I knew exactly what pattern I would use for the socks he wanted me to make for myself.



The colors changed so fast that I knew most patterns would produce a multicolored mess. I hoped that the pattern I had in mind would play nicely with the colors. I was thrilled to watch the stripes and columns line up as I knit through the pattern.



The interesting heel construction is a bit snug as I pull it over my heel but within seconds I find it to be one of the most comfortable socks that I've ever worn. The paired increases and decreases throughout the foot and leg create the most interesting shape but it fits like a dream. Though you know what I love the most? They're not identical but they create a picture when put together.



Pattern: Skew by Lana Holden
Yarn: Yarn Bee Walk Away Sock in Kicky
Project page: Ravelry
Modifications: None

Bear Sweater

When Dragon asked for a Bear Sweater I thought he was teasing, as he does. And while he was having fun, he was also serious. He wanted a sweater made only from scraps of yarn and lots of different patterns. My job was to find a way to make it happen while also keeping the sweater from turning into something scary. Mr. Bear came to live with me so I could easily measure and try things on him. I pulled out the fun book of colorwork I got for my birthday last year and I started experimenting.



I pulled out all my scraps that I'd been collecting and spread them across the bed. I figured the best way to pull it all together was a unifying color and black is a fantastic color for that.

I practiced cableing without a cable needle. I tried a bit of fair isle.



I worked on decreasing while keeping the pattern. I played with patterns I'd wanted to try but hadn't had time for.



And finally I put it all together.



Project Page: Ravelry

WIP Wednesday: Colorfully Skewed Socks

Knitting:
I was happily knitting along on my chocolate socks, fairly certain that I'd finish them by Friday since I'd just started the foot on the second sock. And then the end of my yarn popped out of the bag. :( Apparently going up a needle size and losing a repeat from the leg does affect the amount of yarn used that much. *sigh* So I've hit up Ravelry to see if anybody there that has it marked as "willing to sell / trade" will reply. If you happen to have Lornas Laces Shepard Sock in Chocolate and are willing to sell, I'd be interested.

So, yesterday when I had my little yarn disappointment I was frustrated. Nothing else in my stash really appealed. I didn't want to start a new project, I wanted to finish the one I had. But picking through my stash I finally came across the yarn that Dragon bought me for my birthday last year. Seeing it made me remember the smile he had when he handed it to me. "Yarn, lots of colors, colorful socks for you." So I pulled the yarn out of stash and started a pair of Skew socks.



They shall be 'very' colorful socks,

Reading:

Dune by Frank Herbert. This would be a delightful story if I could give it more time. I've been so distracted with other things lately that I just haven't had a whole lot of time to sit and read like I'd like to. I did end up taking it to the bath with me one day just so I could relax and read. I need to get a move on though because the rest of my to read list is getting antsy. Plus I 'might' have fallen down and bought 2 more books last night ... I submit that it's not my fault since I 'had' to buy one since the author was there to sign it and since it was the second in the series I needed to get the first one as well, for completeness sake.

Writing:
Nothing just yet. But, after a good talk with a friend yesterday .. and the realization that I've let a rude, mean person stop me from something I enjoy ... I will start again. So this is a note to say that if I don't have something going in the writing section next week you should offer, and follow through, with beatings.

WIP Wednesday: Decepticons & Not Much Else

Writing:
Magic Balance (Working Title) - Rewrites
Previous Word Count: 20,390
Current Word Count: 21,391 (Up 1,001)

Honestly I'm surprised it's that high. I wrote some Wednesday after updating and some on Thursday but I was having a really hard time focusing. There was no writing on Friday due to driving to Austin and Saturday and Sunday were spent being 'very' Dragon Distracted.

Reading:

 

Fall From Grace By Matthew Munson I'm really not far enough into this yet to say much. My problem at the moment is it's a PDF version and I primarily read at dinner or in the bathroom. I 'could' use my phone but that's a really small screen. I am working on it though.

Knitting:

Because of the previously mentioned travel and reasons for not writing .. I've also not had a ton of knitting time. But there has been progress, I should have plenty of time to work on it tomorrow as I'll be spending a good chunk of time in a waiting room.

A Lonely Glove

While normally a single does not make a pair this is a rare case where it does. See, Dragon lost 1 glove. I'm sure he was taking very good care of it, it simply had desires to see more of the world than his jacket pocket. But that still left his remaining glove lonely and unmatched. We can't have that. Thus, a single glove for the Dragon.



Before I started I expressed a bit of concern because my grey was fairly lean looking after doing the previous two pairs of gloves for him. The closer I got to the end of the cuff the more nervous I got. I cut it closer than I've ever cut it before.



Just had enough. Meanwhile my head is killing me as I was up until 4am working on the store website. Why must html and tables be so difficult? At least the page that was giving me fits is done (Dreamcatchers) ... now to figure out how to format the Knitting Gallery.

WIP Wednesday: Gloves, Chinook, & Magic Balance

Writing:

Magic Balance (Working Title) - Rewrites

Previous Word Count: 4,892

Current Word Count: 5,175 (Up 283)

I tried. So hard. I managed to get some work done on Thursday. I could blame Dragon, I mean, it's him I was so excited to be able to see .. but no. I'm a big girl, I choose when to work and when not to. Besides, I'll not attach blame and sully such a lovely weekend.

Reading:

Let the Circle Be Unbroken by Mildred D. Taylor. I actually made more progress on this since I took a long bath on Friday and was able to soak and read for a bit. It was sinfully delightful and so needed.

Knitting:
You get two pictures today .. and neither of them is a baby blanket. Perhaps you'll see that on Friday. First up is a sad lonely cuff of a glove. There can only be one. See, one of Dragon's fingerless gloves that I knit him jumped out of his jacket pocket and ran away. Its poor mate is crying. We can't have that. Luckily I 'think' I have enough of the grey to reknit a cuff and plenty of the black to do the rest of the glove. At least Dragon has something to wear, should he need it since I pulled out the fingers on his other gloves and reknit them longer this weekend. The man has 'very' long fingers.



Second we have a Chinook Shawl. I only started it last night but I'm already up to row 7. Pretty impressive considering that my brain was a wee bit broke. This whole "start my own business" thing is hard. Nothing like a little lace to soothe my beleaguered mind. You know ... if anybody ever needs proof of my insanity, I think I just gave it to them. Lace is not calming to most people, and given the anguished whimper I let out at nearly midnight it wasn't very calming when I realized I'd knit the wrong row and had to undo it. At least I'm working the shawl on straights for a little bit, long enough to get the pattern established before I put it onto circulars and the yarn over start floating over the stitch markers and I lose where they belong.




Also?

Knitting for Dragon

Around the turn of the year Dragon said he had a project for me. Always eager to help those I love I asked for details. He needed gloves.

I couldn't resist pointing out that I'd asked if he'd want such a thing over a year ago and he'd then laughed a bit and pointed out that we're in Texas, such things weren't necessary. He hails from the much colder north you see and mostly laughs at us silly southerners and our "cold" weather.

But, joking aside, I went hunting for the perfect pattern for him. The only things he asked for was fingerless and a manly shade of black or grey. Are there unmanly shades of black or grey? Anyhow, with him being a photographer I knew he'd need something to make it easy to use his camera. I found a really awesome pattern.



Pattern: Cigar by Kerri Cadd
Yarn: Lion Brand Wool-Ease Worsted in Black and Grey
Modifications: None that I know of
Ravelry

But that wasn't enough for me. See, he might not always need the exclusive use of just those fingers. Plus, I now had a whole skein of black that I'd only used about a yard of. So I whipped up a pair of the fingerless gloves that I keep going back to.



Pattern: Snuggles Fingerless Gloves by Anna Peck
Yarn: Lion Bran Wool-Ease Worsted in Grey and Black
Modifications: Just my usual of switching the cables.
Ravelry

I decided to do these in both colors because the grey makes the cables show up a bit better plus they'll match his scarf a bit closer and look more like an intentional thing rather than the mismatch that knitters occasionally end up with. He can tell at a glance which pair of gloves makes a set and can choose based on what he needs. And I get to wrap my Dragon in a little bit more love.

(Those are Lynn hands in the shots, he's kind enough to model for me when I need manly hands.)

WIP Wednesday: Dragon Gloves & Magic Balance

Writing:
Magic Balance (Working Title) - Rewrites
Current Word Count: 606

I'm picking up a story I've worked on for 2 separate NaNo wins, one was titled Finding Magic, the other Correcting the Balance. Some of the first portion was rewritten for the second attempt but either way it's a lot of story that needs work. So far I have only the writings of historical madmen on the new document, I know where a large portion of this story is going though so I'm not too worried.

Knitting:
It looks a little sad in pictures here but lest you think I've only done 4 rows all year these were not my first project of the year. Dragon asked for gloves and I've already finished the first set and I'll share those later. This is the second set that I'm making for him and I figure at least this way he'll have choices based on what he'll be doing while out and about, be it photography or errands.

Belated Birthday Present

Proving that my friends love me and know me so well, I have presents to show off.

Dragon surprised me with yarn for socks in lovely bright and wonderful colors. Now to figure out a pattern that will really showcase the gorgeous colors. There were also some framed prints of his photography but I'm not sharing those. *wink*


Phoenixsansfyr also took note of my knitting obsession and gifted me with this fantastic book. I'm already drooling over several of the patterns inside and looking forward to playing with the motifs and colors and seeing what I come up with.